Wiki Code descriptors

[debbieplatou]

Can anyone provide me with a coding clinic description or more specifics on ...

* Differences between 728.87 (muscle weakness), 780.79 (malaise/ fatique)
and 799.3 (debility, unsp)

* Distinction between 780.4 (vertigo) and 386.50 (labyrinthine dysf, unsp)

Thank you for any advice available....

DP

 

[jgf-CPC]

This is what I have used for years from Taber's or Stedman's medical dictionary and it helped me differentiate. Hope it helps:

Debility- all over weakness as in lack of strength

Malaise/fatigue- A feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness, an “out-of-sorts” feeling, often the first indication of an infection or other disease/That state, following a period of mental or bodily activity, characterized by a lessened capacity or motivation for work and reduced efficiency of accomplishment, usually accompanied by a feeling of weariness, sleepiness, irritability, or loss of ambition; may also supervene when, from any cause, energy expenditure outstrips restorative processes and may be confined to a single organ.

Muscle weakness- lack of strength or weakness in a specific area of the body (leg, arm, etc.)

Vertigo- A sensation of spinning or whirling motion. Vertigo implies a definite sensation of rotation of the subject (subjective vertigo) or of objects about the subject (objective vertigo) in any plane as in dizziness.

Labyrinthine dysfunction- a dysfunction that may cause vertigo, vomiting and/or nystagmus

 

[Stefanie]

According to 2010 Coder's Desk Reference - Diagnosis;

"Muscle Weakness: Code assignment of 728.87 Muscle Weakness (generalized) must be distringuished from code 780.79 Generalized weakness. Generalized muscle weakness is a result of musculoskeletal disorders, neuromuscular disease, nerve damage due to trauma or degenerative disease, or psychological and metabolic disorders. Generalized weakness is an ill-defined condition of lethary, malaise and tiredness."